[ajepst]

All the ballroom dance competitions use this old, disliked software to organize and run the events. The guy who wrote it isn't interested in making improvements, (and it can certainly use improvements) and is happy living off the income from people's per event usage rights. I am sure if something modern and regularly updated came out, it would get a lot of uptake. Thing is, the portion of it that runs during the event needs to be able to run offline since venues don't always have reliable internet, and that also means you would be going to at least the first few events for support.. And your tests better be good, since time is of the essence if some does go wrong mid event. I thought about it, and decided I was not interested in dealing with all that when my job pays pretty well. Still, it's a real opportunity.

[cube00]

Or just wait it out until he snuffs it... http://www.douglassassociates.com/compmngr_history.htm#long_...

"So what happens when the Douglasses are no longer around? We have every reason to believe that we'll be around for a good long time, but we wanted a plan to provide for our loyal customers just in case we aren't so lucky. So we made one.

Here is how the plan works. Immediately upon learning of our deaths the executors of Dick's estate (his two highly computer literate kids) will post two files on our www.compmngr.com web site and will send out a broadcast email advising our customers how to download the files. The first file is a small standalone computer program called RegisterEvent.exe, which allows you to create your own registration files. So you won't have to register with Douglass Associates and you won't have to pay a registration fee. You can read more about RegisterEvent and how to use it below. The second file is a ZIP file containing all the source code for COMPMNGR and its supporting programs. This file will only be of interest to those few users who want to continue COMPMNGR development and who either know C++ programming or or willing to hire a C++ programmer."

[bsder]

> I am sure if something modern and regularly updated came out, it would get a lot of uptake.

Would it? See, here's a dirty little secret: people can't deal with change.

Any change made to the software means people have to learn something new. And that results in tech support.

I once had a very nice chat with the CEO of a CNC company and asked him why certain features weren't implemented since his hardware was clearly capable of it. He was quite blunt that a single new feature added about 30% to his tech support budget for almost 3 years, and his tech support budget was almost 1/3 of his annual budget.

So, he simply will not add a feature until it results in an expected 500K in increased revenue or he has to fend off a competitor.

> Still, it's a real opportunity.

Is it? Actually?

And do you know ballroom competitions well enough to get all the corner cases correct? The Douglasses have been to a LOT of competitions and probably wrote this because they got tired of the grief caused by badly run competitions.

How many ballroom competitions exist (<1000)? How much are they willing to pay (<$1000)? And how much will tech support cost?

So, this is less that $1,000,000 per year in revenue MAX. And, this software is already in place with people know how to use it.

Your revenue will likely be $10-20K per year for a long while unless you completely displace this. And they can always drop their prices and block you out if they feel like it. And your tech support costs will be quite high.

I suspect the Douglasses made this same calculation and that's why they aren't improving it. It's just not worth the money.

[svnee]

This is an idea I also considered, given that in Europe the software is similarly awful, but at least the guy (yes, the one guy) here is still doing some improvements.

See http://www.topturnier.de/ for what he is doing.

If one would like to do something in this space I'd go with a solution where you can rent the equipment, get it shipped to you in boxes and ship it back later. For larger organisers you could arrange for leasing options or an on-premise installation that has an auto-update.

The advantage would be to provide offline capabilities including a controlled network environment for adjudicators.

[matthewbauer]

Is this the software you are talking about: http://www.douglassassociates.com/ ?

It looks like it's offered for free now. The thing with this kind of software, is it must be "good enough" for the task.

[timpark]

It looks like you have to pay "to have more than 250 entries [I don't know what's typical], to sign up for web page creation options, and to receive technical support".

And here they ask for credit card details over http...

http://www.douglassassociates.com/online_registration.htm

[ajepst]

Typical is often larger than 250, and not having things like heat lists up online before the event would make people think you are not running things seriously, whether your event is over 250 or not. I hadn't looked at this web site, and haven't personally used the product. If this website is at all indicative of the user friendliness and modernity of the product itself, I can see why the event organizers complain.

[bsder]

Holy crap. I've danced with Liz (she's an amazing dancer--I was not an amazing leader--she was very gracious).

Geez. Small world.